BIR leadership change: Lumagui replaced by Mendoza as commissioner

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr., has replaced Romeo Lumagui, Jr. as commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Presidential Communications Office Sec. Dave Gomez confirmed on Wednesday night.

According to the appointment paper dated Nov. 12, 2025, signed by the President, Lumagui was replaced at the helm of the BIR by Finance Undersecretary Charlito Mendoza.

Details of the movement of finance officials are not immediately available.

Lumagui leaves the BIR months after the bureau surpassed its tax collection target in the first half of 2025.

The BIR reported in August that its January to June 2025 collection stood at P1.554 trillion, overshooting its target for the period by P4.594 billion.

Year-on-year, the BIR’s collection grew by 14.11% or P192.143 billion.

The bureau’s first semester collection was also at over 48% of its full-year collection target of P3.232 trillion.

The BIR last week also filed a tax evasion complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez, and Jaypee Mendoza.

Lumagui said the complaint involved over P1.6 billion in income tax deficiencies from 2020 to 2024.

According to the BIR, it conducted a lifestyle check and looked into the Sworn Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) of the former officials.

The BIR said its investigation revealed that the three received kickbacks from anomalous or ghost flood control projects, which they allegedly laundered through casinos.

The BIR said it found that the individuals exchanged cash for casino chips that were grossly disproportionate to their declared source of income. –NB, GMA Integrated News